Bulldog Drummond gets to read Sir Roy McNulty's Scoping Study...The DfT and ORR issued the McNulty Value for Money Report Scoping Study today without explaining why it had taken ten weeks to put the it into the public domain (it is dated 31 March).

Lots of good stuff and well worth a read but throughout a depressing response from the industry where the general tenor of comment is to acknowledge that there are problems but it is really for others to get a grip.Statements that should have appeared in the report but, depressingly, did not (unless Sir Roy is playing his cards exceptionally close to his chest) include:'Many senior members of the industry we met were just bursting with ideas how to create a better deal for customers but felt thwarted by current circumstances.''We were impressed by the overall strategic view that many of our respondents took and their acknowledgement of the need, if required, to reduce profits to make for a better railway.''We were highly impressed with the personal responsibility that many we met took for the current, largely undesirable, state of affairs and their desire to put things right as quickly as possible.''We were told of a number of carefully thought through ideas that could be implemented immediately and which would reduce cost, produce great efficiencies and demonstrate the commitment of senior management to the industry as a whole.'

Telegrammed by our International CorrespondentMuch excitement in yesterday's Mail on Sunday that the man overseeing MP's expenses is to leave the role early.

A shattered Mr Gooding told The Mail on Sunday yesterday: ‘I have left the job for the sake of my health and sanity.’

Of course Nigel Gooding may be better known to Eye readers as the former Station Manager at Brighton, and the man who in the very early privatisation efforts blew his referees whistle at the then LTS management buy-out team for a very liberal interpretation of trading rules regarding season tickets and settlement for the Underground portion.

Not of course an accusation that could be levelled at Ms Short who the Telegraph revealed had "claimed the full cost of her mortgage for two and a half years, despite being entitled to charge only for the interest element."

This just in from Clarence Spad, Life President of the Young Railway Poets Society...LINES WRITTEN ON THE CHANGES AT FIRST GROUP ANNOUNCED RECENTLYIn the style of William McGonagall who was a great poet of Dundee and if he were alive today would be most welcome on Reading StationT’was on the afternoon of eighth of June twenty tenMost interesting and curious news came to Reading StationThat the gallant knight of Scotland called Sir MoirWas reorganising First Group leaving blood on the floorFrom First Group House in the granite city of AberdeenThe word went out along the railways from Wick to SheenGreat changes were afoot in the corridors of powerThe dark and beetle browed knight was man of the hourBut then as always gangs on this sad earth some evil news The queen of buses, Nicola Shaw, had gone, new job to choose‘Tis said that she was most affrontedNot to get his job and was in a siding shuntedThe bosses of First Group are paid very wellBut that’s the purpose of privatisation I’ve heard tellOur maisters tell us ne’er ever should we complainT’is a privilege to pay handsomely to travel by Sir Moir’s trainNow welcome back to Britannia Tim O’TooleA sharp and clever graduate from law schoolOn Britain’s railways that’s the skill that’s needed To ensure the company’s demands are heededAnd the Government continues great sums to payFirst Group PLC until Judgement DayWe have now heard unofficially that the Son et Lumiere we noted on our last post has been cancelled.

Mark Hopwood is said to be very relieved.

His body stocking had split in a number of places following vigorous rehearsals and the textile re-fitting team at Swindon were finding restoring it to good condition an impossible challenge.